McIlroy stays positive ahead of The Players Championship

McIlroy, who is ranked second in the world, was unable to properly defend his title at The Players Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020

By REUTERS

March 14, 2024

Rory McIlroy hit a third-round 63 to reignite his quest for a fourth Dubai Desert Classic. — AFP/File

MIAMI: Rory McIlroy is five years removed from winning The Players Championship. McIlroy will look to add his name to an exclusive list of multi-time winners of the event when he tees off at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

“Fortunately, there’s not many places I go now where I’m not a past winner, so it’s nice,” McIlroy said during Wednesday’s media scrum. The 2019 champion is bidding to join Jack Nicklaus (1974, 1976, 1978), Hal Sutton (1983, 2000), Fred Couples (1984, 1996), Steve Elkington (1991, 1997), Davis Love III (1992, 2003) and Tiger Woods (2001, 2013) as multi-time winners.

McIlroy, who is ranked second in the world, was unable to properly defend his title at The Players Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He followed that up by sandwiching a pair of missed cuts around a tie for 33rd place in 2022. McIlroy’s last major victory came in 2014, when he won the Open Championship and the PGA Championship.